Dancing through research

I wrote in my post "I do not have a post for today" that I would like to learn more about Edwardian dancing. As much as I love Downton Abbey I feel like it is missing dancing... minus one very important scene in season 2. (If you watch Dowton you know instantly what I am talking about but I love posting pictures of Downton and Dan Stevens.)

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Any way after writing that post I remembered a very helpful resource, Edwardian Promenade, I have used it to find great pictures but it is quite insightful on Edwardian life. So I thought I would take a shot and see what it had on dancing. And I found a very interesting article with a few YouTube videos to give examples. For example...

Link

You might recognize "The Grizzly Bear" from Season 1 of Downton Abbey

 as Thomas and Daisy do a bit of it. 

I know not all my readers are as interested in Edwardian dancing as I am, but I think in writing one should be a truthful as possible even if the story is completely made up it is in the details that matter. One of my favorite authors (besides Jane Austen) is Jennifer Donnelly and I feel she must spend so much time doing research to get the details so accurate, I am impressed. I have always loved historical fiction for this reason because the elements have to be precise for them to be believable but yet the writer can sweep you away in to a world and time we can only imagine about. I know that is why I personally am drawn to historical fiction, the indulgence to escape into another life. 

I hope I can write my character a good dance scene... I feel sometimes when watching people dance you can see their true feelings... Just think what Emma would be with out the ball when you finally see Mr. Knightley admits his feelings (at least to the audience). 

Mr. Knightley: Who are you going to dance with?

Emma: You if you should ask me. After all we are not brother and sister.

Mr. Knightley: Brother and sister.... indeed we are not. 

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So if you are like me and trying to write some historical fiction, I recommend reading history (rather on a blog or in a book), watching period dramas (from a time period you love), and reading other historical novels. I know it may not be official history but I have fallen in love with this series called the Morland Dynasty by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. It starts in pre-Elizabethian era but goes up to the 1920's as this family evolves through time. I  read The Dream Kingdom going from 1909-1912 and I am reading now The Restless Sea about the Titanic and I look forward to going to reading the books about WWI. While I was reading The Dream Kingdom, I underlined lots of text that described society, to the food they ate, to the dresses they wore. I loved it and have gone back to it in writing my own story. 

Okay this post has gotten longer than I thought, so I will leave you with this last photo... 

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Couldn't resist one more Downton Abbey photo. 

Wishing you the best in your writing.

Rewriting...enjoying the process.

Since finishing my semester I have been enjoying getting back into fun writing and enjoying bits and pieces of it with you my loyal readers. I have written about my writing process a bit (post: Writing is my oasis) about how I have to hand write my stories and then bit by bit type them up. I have discovered that one thing that is useful to me is when I am writing my stories and I feel like I have written my characters into a corner, it helps to type it out. Through typing and giving my mind to meld it over I can usually work out how to get my character out of the corner. I have found this beneficial. 

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In my current story I got to a scene that I didn't honestly know how my character should respond. An author should know everything about a character but in my times of writing as much as I put myself in a character sometimes my character goes places in the story I never imagined when I started. I am still an aspiring author so I wonder if this is common. Because I had put my character in a situation I did not know how to respond to, I decided the best thing for my story was just to begin again. I went back to the start of the story I liked and began from there and re-wrote lots of pages and now I am writing with any spare moment I have. 

I know as a writer you pour your heart into your work. I know I am constantly looking in my thesaurus to find the right word perfect word to grasp at what I mean and with that sometimes it is hard to cross out paragraphs or tear out pages. It was hard for me but I feel in sometimes in doing this I get to the best in your story and the best out of my characters. As much as it sucked to tear out pages of my hard work I am happy I did because I feel my story has gone to better place.

I know I am still a naive writer but if you are a writer and feel stuck in a corner I recommend going back to a paragraph, a page, or a scene you like and start over again. It might help. More thoughts from a naive writer click here...

Well put Hemingway
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I do not have a post for today...

Hello lovely readers, 

Ever since school has ended I have been trying to post almost every two days but I am sorry to say I do not have a post today. Well I am not really that sorry because I have been actively working on my story. I hope you will be patient with me. In the mean time here is a good fan made video of dancing scenes to the song The Laendler (you might recognize the song from Sound of Music). I do so like watching dancing scenes.

Posted by: MissAspka

In order of movie appearance:

- Becoming Jane
- Emma (BBC 2009)
- The Sound of Music
- Anne of Green Gables (The Sequel)
- The Young Victoria
- Pride & Prejudice (2005)
- Stardust
- Anne of Green Gables
- Onegin--- This is the only one I had not seen. 
- The King & I
- Pride & Prejudice (BBC 1995)
- Daniel Deronda
- North & South
- Sense & Sensibility (1995)
- Emma (1996)

I need to read up on some Edwardian dancing so I can write a good dance scene. I really only know the Waltz.

Will post more later.

Heroine in the rain

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Every heroine deserves a great moment in the rain. This is a truth from both period dramas (rather they happen in the book or not) and modern TV and movies. There just seems to be something about the rain that makes a scene more romantic. I am happy I let my heroine, Rose, have her moment... 

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A Folly
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         At that moment we heard the overcast sky give a little grumble and the pale gray sky was now presenting us with a summer shower. Kelby without thinking took my hand and lead me to the Temple of Diana. It wasn't really a temple just a folly. It had been popular in the eighteenth century for grand estates to build these little arch ways and call them temples. Now they mainly served as places to hide during the rain. But it was the closest structure to the backwoods and a good place to wait out this summer storm. Even though it was the closest structure we were still soaked causing a shiver over my body. Kelby must have seen me shiver as he pulled me close into his arms and held me there. I think outside of Marcus, who used to hug me when I had bad dreams, Kelby was the first man to hold me.

            "Come let's get me home," he said once the rain had stooped.

            "Oh Kelby I do not want to go home. I cannot face her."

            "Miss Rose, one must never be afraid to face your fears." With that he took his thumb  and brushed the hair that had fallen in front of my face. "But perhaps you need some tea to strengthen you up." And he gave me a little smile.

            I was only eleven so I could not explain how I really felt then but I mark this down as the beginning of my love for Kelby Gray.

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Here are some great rain moments...

Colonel Brandon and Marianne
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My new favorite..

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And probably the most famous...

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And in modern days...

Jim and Pam
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Sweet Home Alabama
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Saw this on pinterest and just thought it was funny...

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Needless to say when the time does come, I hope I get a romantic moment in the rain.